Nice site and great book list.

I would like to add that Sir Burton was a main character in a great Science
Fiction novel series called "Riverworld" by Jose Phillip Farmer, written back
in the 1970's I believe. I started to read more about Sir Burton after reading
that novel.

There was a brief exchange about Riverworld earlier on this group. I corresponded with Phil Farmer in the mid 1970s about Burton, of whom he was a great fan. I think he would have been disappointed by the made-for-TV Riverworld movie, to say the least.

I'll bet a lot of us first became interested in Burton after meeting him in "Riverworld." Kind of sad, really, but I'll confess to it.

I know the captain Richard f. Burton trough Riverworld.

Now they are a good book from Edward Rice.

I was unaware of the recent TV version and after checking it on imdb it doesn't sound terribly impressive and why no Burton in the cast (at least Alica and Mark are there)? I read the series ages ago after discovering 'To your scattered bodies go' by chance when travelling and looking for something to read on buses. Another case of something worthy of good production values but ending up as something else and probably preventing the chance for a proper Riverworld movie to showcase Farmer's interpretation of RFB. But is it also intended as a series on the sci fi channel, with RFB likely to pop up later?

I too became interested in RFB after reading the River World books. I was disapointed that his character was not included in the movie. I don't think he is a person of historical interest to modern Americans, in that he doesn't fit the paradigm of a "good" heroic, historical figure. The man was just too complex, and too dark a figure to be featured in an american made-for-TV (or popular cable) movie. A true to life portrayal of Burton would be castigated for his morals and politics.